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Meditation for Pain Relief

3 ladies ready for yoga or meditation

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Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Dartmouth College used advanced brain imaging and artificial intelligence to study how various interventions influence the brain’s perception of pain. The 2025 study, published in Biological Psychiatry, analyzed data from two previous trials involving 115 healthy adults randomly assigned to one of four groups.

The mindfulness meditation group was taught breathwork and how to observe their thoughts and feelings without judgment. The sham-mindfulness group did not receive proper mindfulness instructions. The placebo cream group received a cream without active ingredients. The control group listened to an audiobook. Each group completed four, 20-minute sessions of their assigned activities, followed by brain scans while pain was applied to their leg.

The researchers discovered that mindfulness meditation significantly reduced pain intensity and unpleasantness more than the other groups. Brain scans revealed that mindfulness meditation decreased activity in neural patterns associated with both physical pain and emotional response to pain.

These findings suggest that mindfulness meditation reduces pain by directly altering sensory and emotional pain processing in the brain, whereas the placebo effect changes pain expectations. Further research is needed to confirm that mindfulness meditation can produce similar results for people with chronic pain

In-Print National Content Global and Health Briefs Health Brief November 2025

 

 

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Tick Tackler

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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